ANGEL ARMS: MY NOSE IS FALLING OFF...

THE WEATHER IS STARTING TO GET REALLY GLOOMY HERE. SUNRISE HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY MOVED FROM THE UNUSUALLY LATE TIME OF 0700/0715 AM TO AROUND 0800. I SWEAR I THINK LESS AND LESS GUYS ARE GOING TO THE SHOWERS EVERY MORNING. WHEN CLASSES STARTED 3 WEEKS AGO THERE WOULD ALWAYS BE THIS LITTLE LINE OF WAITING STUDENTS IN THE SHOWERS (WELL THATS BECAUSE EVERYBODY DECIDES TO TAKE A BATH 30 MINUTES BEFORE CLASSES START, THUS THE SHORTAGE OF SHOWER STALLS). HMMM AYAN NA NDE NA NALILIGO BEFORE GOING TO CLASS. (HEHE HAD TO SAY THAT IN TAGALOG IN CASE SOME OF THEM READS THIS). THEY DON'T STINK, SO THAT'S ALRIGHT. ANYWAY BACK TO THE BRRRRR COLD... THE OTHER DAY WHEN I WENT TO THE BANK, I WAS JUST HALFWAY THERE WHEN MY NOSE STARTED TO FREEZE UP. IT HURT SO BAD! PROMISE IT FELT LIKE ICE WERE FORMING IN MY SINUS. SO I HAD TO COVER MY NOSE WITH MY HANKY THE REST OF THE WAY, IT WAS SO WIERD. I REALLY DON'T LIKE THE COLD, AND ITS JUST AUTUMN HERE. I CAN'T IMAGINE HOW COLD IT WOULD BE WHEN WINTER COMES. THE IDEA OF NOT GOING TO THE SHOWERS EVERY MORNING IS STARTING TO GET REALLY APPEALING TO ME... HAHAHA

THIS WAS DURING A SCHOOL BARBEQUE. THERE WERE FREE BEER, WINE, FRUITS, SAUSAGES AND OF COURSE BBQ!

ANGEL ARMS GOES TO BELGIUM

hehe this is one story I really have to share. hmmm ok so it was saturday and we were supposed to go to Arras (a city to the south of Lille) but there was a stike by the workers so train service was out. Too bad. I was so excited to go! Anyway, so here I was again, stuck for another weekend in the dorm. As I powered up my pc and loaded MSN and stuff, Antoine, a fellow student who was in my batch buzzed me and we had some small talk going. He asked why I was online when I was supposed to be travelling to Arras that day (I was surprised he remembered my plans for the weekend). So there when he learned that my plans got cancelled, he asked me if I wanted to go with them for biking and picnic and stuff the following day. He even offered to bring an extra bike for me (coz I don't have one here) hehe It was very nice of them I couldn't refuse. It was definitely more appealing than just staying around the dorm for the entire sunday. So I said yes, and I was really excited! I assumed we'll be going around Lille, perhaps the countryside outside of the city, and propably have picnic in one of the parks here. But I was soooo wrong.... hehe anyway back to my story. So I went to the town center to buy stuff for the picnic. And then sunday came and we met by the courtyard in front of the dorm building and then finally they told me where we were going. I can't believe Antoine failed to mention this to me the previous day! Can you believe we went to BELGIUM just to have picnic?!?! And to top that we just rode bikes! We crossed to another country (and I didn't have my Visa with me coz I didn't think I'd need it for biking!) riding bicycles for 3 hours of so, just to have picnic! When we arrived back in the dorm, my legs felt like they were disconneted from the rest of my body. It was a little embarassing because the 2 girls who were with us were in better shape than I was. Hehe obviously they were used to doing this but I was so not ready for something like this. Hehe excuses, but hey I did it and that's what's important. Im really proud of myself hehe this is a great achievement! Yahoooo it was very tiring but it was definetely worth it. The sights were so fantastic, I finally saw the countryside of France. It was how I imagined it to be: rolling green fields with red and yellow poppies that would tend to go for miles, little houses with their little gardens and matching wells, ranches with cows and goats and horses, little villages with old churches in their town center, the good stuff! And it was the same in Belgium. It was so wonderful. And the people would smile and wave bonjour as we passed by. Belgians speak french, but their signs and writings in the towns were done in their native language (its Flemish I think) so I couldn't understand the shops that we passed by. Whew it was really tiring but it was totally worth it! It really feels so good to have tried something amazing like this. hehe

ANGEL ARMS GROWS WINGS AND CLIMBS (HAHA LITERALLY) THE TOUR EIFFEL

hahaha Yeah pramis I climbed the vaunted Eiffel Tower ON FOOT. kasi grabe mahal kung bumili ako ng Pass for the Elevator 10++ euros, where as kung Pass for the Stairs 3.50 euros lang. hehe ang barat no pero hey, better safe than sorry mamaya manglimos ako dito. Anyway the trip to the 1er Etage (1st Storey) took about 7-10mins, im not really sure. Grabe hiningal ako pramis, pero it was worth it kasi grabe ang view of Paris! Wow lang ako ng wow hehe Grabe pakawala sa pagpic para hindi masayang yung binayad ko.
Then on to the 2er Etage, again on foot hehe. Mas matagal na transit time ko kasi mas madalas na akong tumitigil to rest kasi mejo mahirap na huminga, the air was noticably thinner habang pataas. Then after a lot of stops I finally reached the 2er Etage. Hehe the view was definitely better than from the first storey, although mejo nakakatakot na yun kasi sobrang taas na. Then dun nalaman ko meron pa palang 3er Etage, yung peak na nang tower. Hehe the 2nd Etage was just halfway the height of the Eiffel, so imagine kung ano pa makikita ko sa peak. Unfortunately kailangan na ngayon mag-elevator and the ticket costs 3.10 euros. Naexcite ako kya bahala na bumili nalang ako nung ticket and lined up in queue. Eto matagal tagal 30mins in line para makasakay sa evelator. Pero worth it talaga kasi grabe na yung view sa top floor, kita lahat ng monuments sa Paris. Yung inner courtyard ng Louvre kita na kahit malayo kasi sobrang taas na. Kita narin yung 12-arm star na nakapalibot sa Arc of Triumph (both nasa pics hehe). Yung Louvre nde obvious from the 2er Etage pero from here kita na. Ayun sobrang mahangin na rin at malamig. I stayed up there until lunchtime kasi ginutom na ako. Buti nalang free yung elevator pababa so mas mabilis na hehe. Pagdating ko sa foot ng tower, andun yung mga food stalls, pero grabe yung fries + 2 sausages + coke = P500 hehe well mahal talga nga sa Europe kaya dapat magtipid ako.

Neways the whole experience was as magical as I imagined it to be. Hehe sayang lang wala akong kasama. Huhu FOR PICS CLICK HERE

ANGEL ARMS MEETS HIS 1ST GARGOYLES IN SACRE COEUR

hehe weeee actually my first stop was Montmartre District coz my hostel was in Montmartre. eto yung parang Timog or Quiapo sa Manila. The place was always full off people and there were Merry Go Rounds sa streets, that sort of thing. The Moulin Rouge is in Montmartre kaso I cudn't find it. Neways the first major monument I visited was the Sacre Coeur, a really huge Catholic Basilica, constructed on top of Paris' highest peak. hehe muntik na ako nagoyo ng isang black guy from Senegal, bibigyan daw nya ako ng lucky charm kung magbayad ako 10 euros. gagu P700 din yun. These are the pics I took while visiting the Sacre Couer... enjoy! Comment kayo ha hehe tyty PICS HERE!

ANGEL ARMS SAYS BIENVENUE A FRANCE!

translation: Angel Arms says "Welcome to France"!
ok where do i start?... hmmm technically my adventures started back there in NAIA Terminal I coz i had a bit of a problem with my excess baggage (hehe kasi andaming dalang libro! Total ko 29Kg; allowed 20Kg. Fee per excess Kg = P1900!!! so that wud translate to a whopping P18000.00!!!! grabe taga ng AirFrance). Buti nalang I was there 5 hours early so I got to measure it myself way before check-in time. Hehe grabe kinabahan ako nun so I befriended a fellow passenger, a really nice lady en route to Bangkok and she suggested na cya magdadala ng mga libro ko (2 huge programming books na nakabalot pa sa natio na supot!) through check-in para kunwari sa kanya yun. Ok that was 3Kg less, 6Kg to go! Tapos todo rearrange ng backpack ko,yung yellow na Adidas para maglipat pa ng at least 3K more. Would you believe na nagkasya dun almost 10Kg worth of books and personal items all in all! Hehe todo pilit talga. So i was left with 3Kg excess and sabi ng porter dun na tumutulong sakin (grabe dami tumulong sakin) Ok na daw un na excess pwede na yun palusutin. So there. I got away without having to pay anything. Yung nasa unahan ko kawawa pinabayad di ko alam magkano pero I'm sure kawawa siya. Then off to the plane...
The plane trip was pretty uneventful except for the nice On-Board Movies. I got to watch 13 Going On 30 ba yun hehe tis was nice. And oo nga pala yung food super sarap full-course meals complete with appetizer, main meal, apple pie, fruits, juice, chocolates, and candies. Although wierd kasi pabaliktad yung pagserve, nauna yung dinner, tapos after 5 hrs serve ng lunch tapos after another 5 hours serve ng breakfast. Although di makita yung dinadaanan namin kasi nasa night cycle kami the entire 16 hours of transit, sobrang cool kasi puno ng lights and buong India, Middle East and especially mainland Europe. Then we arrived CDG Paris. Hehe Dito sobrang kinabahan ako kasi waaaaa kelangan ko na magfrench, lalo na sa customs check. Pero to my absolute surprise, the customs check only lasted 30 seconds, and the only questions asked of me was "So you're a student?" and "Your transcript please", pero in french malamang. And that was it. Oui lang ako ng oui hehe tapos labas na ko to the waiting bus to central Paris. Grabe a whole new world talaga, airport palang. Everything was clean and super efficient yung lahat ng service nila, from Information to Bus Transit. Batsa mapapaiyak talga tayo kung bakit, BAKIT wala niyan sa Pinas, kahit yung ganung bus lang na malinis (not to mention High tech) masaya na ako.
Then WHOA Paris was a shock. Grabe, basta grabe, absolutely no traffic (at least wala akong nakita). Batsa ang sarap sa mata nakakarelax parang walang hassle sa mga buhay nila. Batsa basta ewan. Then baba ako sa first bus stop (di pwede basta basta lang magpara sa kahit saan hehe), made a phone call to my host agency to tell them where to pick me up. Hehe sundo sa mga scholars special taxi na MB grabe angas kasi may GPS and all. Tapos yun I got my stipend for my first month, endorsement papers, free train ticket to Lille, got directions on how to go to my hostel, dropped my stuff, and I was off to explore Paris!!!!!! hehe whew nakakapagod next part na yung the Grand Tour of the City of Lights...
click this link for the MISC PICS I got... comment kayo ha

This is my host school in Lille. It's Institut Catholique D'Arts et Metiers (ICAM-Lille).

With some of my classmates...really nice and totally friendly guys

My room! Regarde, il y a un ATENEO banner!